10 Best MP3 Converter Tools for Mac & Windows - Convert MP3 Files on Mac Easily

The article lists down top 10 MP3 converters for Mac to convert file to and from MP3 format free.

With huge popularity and high compatibility of MP3s, you might find yourself in a need of MP3 conversion. The task is not that tricky, and the right MP3 converter for Mac can help you get the most out of yours for situations when you need to convert audio and video to MP3 on Mac OS X to store music on the smartphones, iPods and playback devices, or convert MP3 files to other audio formats like AAC, WAV, etc.

The best free MP3 Converters for Mac at a glance

Great MP3 converters for Mac complied in the list are surprisingly powerful, and whether you're converting to MP3 from MP4, WMA, M4A, WAV, OGG or other media files, trimming a sound or handling YouTube to MP3 conversion, there's a tool for you.

• To MP3 Converter for Mac
• Video Converter for Mac & Windows
• Handbrake
• Best YouTube to MP3 Converter
• Switch Audio Converter Free for Mac
• MediaHuman Audio Converter
• FFmpeg
• Freemake Audio Converter
• Apple's Built-in Free MP3 Converter
• Online Audio Converter to MP3

1. To MP3 Converter for Mac

If you're an average user and are not willing to compromise on the features, To MP3 Converter Free for Mac is your best bet. Packed with the decent converting capabilities, it can convert up to 200 audio and video formats into to any files in just two clicks. The smart program offers automatic control over the MP3 sound quality with optimal settings. Of course, you could manually adjust the bit rate, sample frequency, and channels to make the track sound better.

However, it has limitations on integration with Finder and Music or iTunes, as well as features built in the free version, such as batch MP3 conversion, loading original tags and artworks of the files from network, and audio effects. But overall, it's simple to use with a sleek-design user interface:

• Open To MP3 Converter on Mac.
• Click Open, and choose the video or audio you want to convert to .mp3.
• Click Convert.

2. Video Converter for Mac & Windows

Best Features: The super-lightweight MP3 converter for macOS supports just about any file format you can name, and convert the files quickly and efficiently, including video to MP3 conversion Mac, audio to MP3, MP3 to format that compatible with Windows, Android, iOS devices and many other players. Batch conversions are supported so that you can queue up more than one file at once.

Video Converter for Mac is exactly what you expect for a best MP3 converter Mac. It's feature-packed and far more reliable than other converting programs in the post. It performs admirably when converting media files to and from MP3 on Mac while keeping the original information intact. Apart from the basic features, it stands out from the rest with the functions of editing, renaming, adjusting volume, trimming, as well as video effects. By default, the program applies 192 kbps as a good general-purpose bitrate if you convert to MP3 audio file on Mac, but you can further tinker it if you need.

How to use video to MP3 converter Mac to convert video to .mp3 audio format

The process goes the same when converting downloaded YouTube videos to MP3s on Mac.

• Launch the MP3 audio converter for OS X.
• Click Add File to open and import video(s) to the software.
• In 'Profile' drop-down, choose General Audio > MP3.
• Hit Convert button to begin the conversion of MP3 files.

3. Handbrake

Handbrake is an open-source and free product that works on Mac OS, Windows and Linux. It lets users to convert a load of video formats, including converting MP4 videos with MP3 encoding. That means, unfortunately, it does not allow audio extraction from video and audio-only conversion. So it's literally not a real MP3 converter for Mac.

To convert a MP4 video from AAC codec to MP3 codec, for example, do the following:

• In Handbrake, click Open Source.
• Add the MP4 file to the program.
• Click Audio tab, and change codec to MP3.
• Click Start button.

If you wish to extract MP3 tracks from the video only, you have to use another Mac MP3 converter or extractor program like Video Converter for Mac to achieve this.

4. Best YouTube to MP3 Converter

It's probably not a surprise that you're seek a YouTube to MP3 converter for Mac in order to download and convert YouTube videos to MP3 free and enjoy the music offline whenever you like. As long as you have the copyright permission from the owner, you could head to ytmp3.net site to make the conversion to MP3 online free. The one disadvantage I can spot is that you can't add multiple URLs to convert videos at a time.

• Navigate to ytmp3.net.
• Copy the URL of the YouTube video, and paste it in the box.
• Switch the slider to the right to confirm converting from YouTube to .mp3.

We have nice alternatives for YouTube to MP3 converter. Take a look.

5. Switch Audio Converter Free for Mac

Switch Audio and MP3 Converter for Mac free allows you to convert MP3, WAV, WMA and all kinds of audio files to different formats of your choice. It can also convert audio from video, too. The interface is clear and is as easy to use as other MP3 audio converters. Just add the files you want to convert to the list, select output preference, and then click the convert button.

The capabilities on free trial version is limited, however. You can only batch convert 5 audio files at a time.

6. MediaHuman Audio Converter

MediaHuman Audio Converter is a freeware MP3 conversion tool for Mac OS X and Windows. It can help you in case you need to convert music into multiple formats through its impressively simple interface. It can export the converted songs to the iTunes or Music, though this requires a little digging as the option is hidden away.

This Mac application lacks the ability to handle videos that you might find in other, more comprehensive MP3 audio converter.

7. FFmpeg

FFmpeg is a powerful command-line solution for converting audio and video formats. It's feature-rich, and available for Windows and Mac users to convert files gracefully, such as MP3, MP4, MKV, WAV, etc. There's a huge learning curve that you may not to be comfortable with if you're not a tech-savvy.

8. Freemake Audio Converter

Freemake Audio Converter is developed for Windows users to convert audio tracks between different formats for free completely, and it's good enough for everyday use. The input format is unlimited, while the output format should be MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A, OGG. The program doesn't come with basic cutting tools to split a long audio file into separate songs before converting, and thus for the file longer than 3 minutes, you need to pay for the Infinite Pack.

• Open Freemake Audio Converter free.
• Click Add Audio, choose MP3 music or file you want to convert into MP3, and upload it.
• Choose to MP3 on the bottom, and manage the quality. You can also tick Export to iTunes if needed.
• Hit Convert.

Sure, if you're working on MacOS and need to convert the MP3 files, this free converter software program isn't a good choice because of the incompatibility issue.

9. Apple's Built-in Free MP3 Converter

iTunes or Apple Music is yet another excellent tool that allows users to convert a huge list of music files without any hassle. Unlike other Mac OS MP3 audio converters equipped with a huge batch of encoders, Apple's native file conversion utility can just produce AAC, WAV, AIFF, Apple Lossless, and MP3. In addition, you can convert DRM-free AACs to MP3s on Mac free.

To convert to MP3's in Music app (macOS 10.15 Catalina), you need to first set the file conversion to create MP3 files.

• Open Music on Mac.
• Go to Edit > Preferences. Under General tab, click Import Settings.
• In the Import Using box, choose MP3 Encoder. Click OK.



• In your music library, select the music track (s) you want to convert.
• Click File > Convert > Create MP3 Version.

10. Online Audio Converter to MP3s

There are so many online MP3 converter options for Mac around, it can be hard to know which to trust. Online Audio Converter is secure and smart for a quick conversion that you can convert local audios files and ones located online. It allows you to extract an audio track within a video from YouTube or any source so that you can save a particular song for playback.

The best MP3 converter for Mac online should look like this:

After you're converting MP3 files, you're ready to enjoy them.

FAQ: How to convert M4A to MP3?

Seriously, many users reported that they're trying to find an easiest way to convert a audio recording (.m4a) made using QuickTime to an .mp3 or .wav file for uploading to a website. Or conversion of M4A to MP3 becomes harder in Catalina... And some other users complained that they cannot convert file to MP3 in iTunes anymore with no option provided. [Read the thread of MP3 file conversion issue: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3890527]

Whatever which situation you're in, the process of converting to MP3 audio files is feasible and hasn't really changed at all in either iTunes or the Apple Music app. We've discussed Apple's MP3 converter freeware as a fantastic tool to make the Mac MP3 conversions effortlessly in part 9, but you could head to this site for more information about the process.